Irish Bouzouki

[Eddie Sheehy]

I came across this article on the Web by Paul Kotapish. Very interesting reading.

http://www.irishbouzouki.com/ancienttones.html

[EdSherry]

Aw, what does HE know? :-)

Seriously, a very informative article on the instrument's history.

[Paul Kotapish]

Thanks, Eddie. Paul Hostetter pointed out a few errors in the piece--I was juggling a few too many different threads when I wrote that. Tzizanis died in '84, for example, and the shift to the four-course instrument happened earlier than I suggested--but the big story about the migration from Greece to Ireland to the U.S. is there, and it's an interesting one.

The version of the story at acousticguitar.com has pictures, links, and more information:

http://www.acousticguitar.com/issues/ag89/bouzouki.html

Here's another thread about the bouzouki with more juicy details.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...zouki+kotapish

[Tavy]

I came across this article on the Web by Paul Kotapish. Very interesting reading.

I enjoyed reading that a lot, however just a couple of minor corrections: the instrument played by Andy Irvine was a German folk instrument called a waldzither, and not a Portuguese guitarra. The difference is that the waldzither has 9 strings in 5 courses and is a direct descendent of the medieval cittern (hence the development of the modern 10 string cittern), while the Portuguese guitarra has 12 strings in 6 courses and is truely a guitar (albeit built like a mandola) and is a descendent of the now defunct English guitar.

The confusion between the two arises quite often because they both often use the same "watch key" type tuners which were believed to be an inovation of 18th century English guitar maker John Preston, his designs influenced the Portugese guitar, and then spread to the German designs when Boem started making waldzithers around 1900.

There's some more waldzither information here: http://www.johnmaddock.co.uk/waldzither/html/index.html
and portuguese guitarra is described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_guitar

With apologies for being unduely pedantic! John.

[PseudoCelt]

Andy Irvine did play a waldzither, but he had a Portuguese guitarra too. It was pictured on one of the Planxty albums.

[mandomentch]

It is a great article.....thoroughly researched and very well written. I was honored to be mentioned under my pseudonym of Rob Adams (just teasing, Paul).

Bob Abrams
Trillium Octave Mandolins

[Tavy]

Andy Irvine did play a waldzither, but he had a Portuguese guitarra too. It was pictured on one of the Planxty albums.

Well I be darned, I stand fully corrected and humbled, actually is there anything much he hasn't played at one time or another?

John.

[Paul Kotapish]

It is a great article.....thoroughly researched and very well written. I was honored to be mentioned under my pseudonym of Rob Adams (just teasing, Paul).

Bob Abrams
Trillium Octave Mandolins

Bob,

I'm still cringing about that--and a few other heinous--fact-checking error(s). My everlasting apologies. That was my first big piece for AG, and some vital details got away from me as I was learning how to research and write a story like that. I think Roger Landes is probably still mad at me for screwing up the title of his anagramatically eponymous Dragon Reels, too.

For those, and all the other errors in the piece, I stand humbly corrected.

As for Andy Irvine's instrument, he may well be playing a waldzither in that photo, but the info about the guitarra came from the horse's mouth during a conversation I had with him about the topic, and it's credited as an instrument he plays on several recordings over the years, and Stefan Sobel discussed it, too. Andy mentions a bunch of double-course instruments he's played--including both waldzither and guitarra--in this article.

[zoukboy]

I think Roger Landes is probably still mad at me for screwing up the title of his anagramatically eponymous Dragon Reels, too.

Ha ha ha...

Hi Paul,

Well, I'm not still mad at you because I never was! :-)

Your article was the first attempt in a major publication to make some sense of the Irish bouzouki's confusing past and it was a great effort. I remember how long we talked on the phone - it was clear you really wanted to get it all right, if possible. You must have felt a little like a folklorist getting so many contradictory points of view!

Re: Andy: he was at ZoukFest last year and gave a once-in-a-lifetime (ours, not his) performance and then was interviewed for about an hour. Great reminiscences of those early days in Sweeney's Men and Planxty. He covered all the territory mentioned in Kieron's article that you linked to. As one wag said, it was like "being visited by the Pope!"

I think he'll be at ZF again in 2010....

Cheers,

[steve V. johnson]

Roger told Paul, "Your article was the first attempt in a major publication to make some sense of the Irish bouzouki's confusing past and it was a great effort."

Amen, and many thanks and kudos for it.

stv